How Blest We Are. Of Penitence, Fellowship and Friendship.

Mothering Sunday | Refreshment Sunday | Laetare Sunday

Laetare Jerusalem et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam; gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis, ut exsultetis et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be ye glad for her, all ye that delight in her: exult and sing for joy with her, all ye that in sadness mourn for her; that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations. Psalm: I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord.

We in the Ordinariate know well the many blessings we receive from God. First and foremost, Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate is, without exaggeration, magnificent! Every Mass, be it Said, Solemn or Solemn High, is a fitting testimony to the glory and mercy of God Who, through human agents, has extended the life of the Anglican Patrimony and brought its flesh and blood into harmony with Holy Mother Church.

Not much of anything at all needs to be preached to those already seated in the choir loft and congregation. But, for those perhaps looking for a home wherein the beauty and truth and goodness of God are celebrated, here beginneth an(other) anthem to the Ordinariate experience.

Excellent Homilies

The homilies to which we are commonly exposed in the Ordinariate are well crafted, and do not turn on the broken axle of mere entertainment. Our perception of reality, particularly our perception of the state of one's soul, is taken seriously by our spiritual fathers, by our priests who, having brought a reliance on Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, and a dedication to effective communication into the Ordinariates, help us become better able to examine one's conscience in the light of the Gospel. They preach to us with all candor and kindness. Our spiritual fathers take our salvation seriously; they care about the state of our souls. Their compasses point to Jesus, His mercy and love. We view our failings through the lens of Christ's life, death and Resurrection, while avoiding diving into and drowning in despair. We have held up before us well polished mirrors that help us see clearly to help us remove the planks from our own eyes, so that we may seek God's forgiveness, and that we may rejoice in God's mercy and be delivered from alienation and sin. We awaken to the newness of life found in Jesus Christ. Rather than revel in the self righteousness of woke ideology, the "I'm so much hipper than you are and therefore I am better than you" drivel of pseudo-morality, or lap up the drool of some universalist heresy, we allow ourselves to be humbled and strive to see Jesus in all we meet, and we learn to extend to others goodwill and mercy.

How often do we hear the word 'mercy' these days? Compassion - yes. Kindness - sure. Compassion and kindness are often substitutes, i.e., overused synonyms, for approval. That is, blind approval, including the approval of serious sin. We see banners over the entrance ways of some religious communities that say "Love is love." Such slogans attempt to provide approval of sin. Said slogan is more a threat to deter criticism than a definition of authentic love. Simply put, one might love what is detestable in the sight of God, but loving sin - embracing sinful behaviour - does not turn sin into love. Said slogan merely empties a beautiful word of meaning and leads people further into ruin.

Do we hear of mercy? Not so much. Mercy to the many, who are allergic to any suggestion one should assume culpability for one's bad actions, sounds archaic and oppressive, and suggests summary negative judgement. Any hint of disapproval typically merits a tirade: "Don't judge!" A person's kneejerk reaction, perhaps in seeming defense of another, echoes more like "Don't judge me!" The person who objects may (and typically does) identify with the action being criticized. They do not distinguish between a person and his or her actions, so they assume they are somehow condemned as lesser beings. That is, they do not understand that to judge a person's action does not necessarily exhaust or speak to the entire character of a person. Speaking of judgement, there, again, is another word that lands like a grenade, most often lobbed by the self-righteous at anyone who dares to challenge sinful behaviour. If we truly love someone, if we really cares about the spiritual, mental and physical health of another human being, we must hold up to him or her the truth. Anyone who cares enough to share the truth with kindness risks losing a friend or family member who may be content in their sin. A doctor must judge one's habits and the condition of a person's body in order to help one return to health. Left undiagnosed or unwilling to submit to or confront a diagnosis, a person may succumb to an otherwise treatable disease.

Another word for self-righteous might be indifferent. Who cares more: the person who risks identifying wrongful action and offers to accompany and support change, or the person who, in the name of false compassion, ignores (or even celebrates!) another's bad habits that are leading to an impoverishment of spirit and a degradation of mind and body?

Our luxury in the Ordinariate is the plenteousness of diagnostic tools and spiritual aids to bring our hearts and minds into harmony with the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so - lowering our eyes, but reminded of the weightlessness of being freed of the burden of sin, the freedom restored with absolution - we approach the Divine Physician with confidence in His mercy.

THE RITE OF CONFESSION

from a booklet used at Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC

The Penitent kneels and, after a short period of recollection, says:

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

Priest: The Lord be upon thy heart, and upon thy lips, that so thou mayest worthily confess all thy sins. + In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Penitent then makes his or her Confession, using the following formula:

I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin, to all the Saints, and to thee, Father, that I have sinned exceedingly, in thought, word, deed and omission, by my own great fault.

        If this is a First Confession, say:

        Since Baptism, I remember the following sins … .

Especially since my last Confession, which was …, when I received Absolution, and performed my Penance, I remember the following sins … .

The Penitent now confesses his or her sins and, when finished, concludes with these words:

For these and all my other sins, which I cannot now remember, I am very sorry, I intend to do better, and I humbly ask pardon of God; and of thee, Father, I ask for Penance, advice and Absolution.

After the Confession is ended the Priest will address a few words of counsel and advice to the Penitent, and will then assign a suitable Penance.

The Penitent then makes the following Act of Contrition:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

The Priest then pronounces the Absolution with the following words:

God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give Thee pardon and peace, and I absolve thee from thy sins + in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Priest may also add:

May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the prayers of Our Blessed Lady, and of all the Saints, make whatsoever good thou has done, or evil thou hast endured, be unto thee for the forgiveness of sins, the increase of grace, and the reward of eternal life.

And the bles+sing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon thee, and remain with thee always. Amen.

Go in peace, the Lord hath put away all thy sins, and pray for me, for I am a sinner also.

The Penitent now departs and proceeds to do his or her Penance, preferably before leaving church.

Christ’s Two Commandments (from the USCCB)

How well do we love God and others? In the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Christ gives us Two Commandments. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Mt 22:37-40).” Do we love as Christ calls us to?

Not sure what love is? Saint Paul describes love for us in his First Epistle to the Corinthians. “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor 13:4-8).” Is that how you love God and neighbour?

Fellowship & Friendship

Fellowship after Mass has been lovingly termed the Eighth Sacrament. Fellowship as the Ordinariate knows it is not the generic or vapid term employed to describe a free-for-all after a religious service that many communities strive to realize, though missing the spirituality to integrate the worship of God and discipleship. Instead of a feast of faith, that kind of "fellowship" is merely a coffee-hour tattooed with a veneer of religiosity.

Fellowship is the celebration of Eucharistic grace given by God and shared among disciples of Jesus. The fellowship after Mass manifests as hospitality, the necessary charity that realizes the gratitude of the saved for God's Gift of Himself and for the gift of salvation, gifts we celebrate and to which we invite others to wholeheartedly embrace.

Spiritual Friendship (pp. 58-59) - Saint Aelred of Rievaulx

[19]. AELRED. (…). In my opinion, from amor comes amicus and from amicus amicitia. That is, from the word for love comes that for friend, and from friend, friendship.8 Now love is an attachment of the rational soul. Through love, the soul seeks and yearns with longing to enjoy an object. Through love, the soul also enjoys that object with interior sweetness and embraces and cherishes it once it is acquired. I have explained the soul’s attachments and emotions as clearly and carefully as I could in a work you know well enough, The Mirror of Charity.9 [20]. Furthermore, a friend is called the guardian of love, or, as some prefer, the guardian of the soul itself.10 Why? Because it is proper for my friend to be the guardian of mutual love or of my very soul, that he may in loyal silence protect all the secrets of my spirit and may bear and endure according to his ability anything wicked he sees in my soul. For the friend will rejoice with my soul rejoicing, grieve with it grieving,11 and feel that everything that belongs to a friend belongs to himself.12 [21]. Friendship is that virtue, therefore, through which by a covenant of sweetest love our very spirits are united, and from many are made one.13 Hence even the philosophers of this world placed friendship not among the accidents of mortal life but among the virtues that are eternal.14 Solomon seems to agree with them in this verse from Proverbs: “a friend loves always.”15 So he obviously declares that friendship is eternal if it is true, but if it ceases to exist, then although it seemed to exist, it was not true friendship.

• 8. Cicero, Amic 8.26.
• 9. Aelred, Spec car, esp. 3.6.39–109.
• 10 Isidore, Etymologiae 10.4.
• 11. Rom 12:15.
• 12. Cf. Acts 4:32.
• 13 Cicero, Amic 25.92; cf. Cicero, Amic 21.81; cf. Ambrose, Off 3.134; cf. Aelred, Spec car 3.6.39; cf. Bernard, Ep 53.
• 14 Cf. Cicero,
• 15. Prv 17:17.

Earlier, Saint Aelred writes:

Therefore, as the highest nature he fashioned all natures, set everything in its place, and with discernment allotted each its own time. Moreover, since he so planned it eternally, he determined that peace should guide all his creatures and society unite them. Thus from him who is supremely and uniquely one, all should be allotted some trace of his unity. (Friendship and Creation, pp.. 41-42 from Spiritual Friendship; 1.53).

The fellowship that the Ordinariates have inherited echoes Benedictine hospitality known since the first centuries and brought to the Isles by monks who saw in every stranger Christ the Lord. And so, they/we are able to call all who we may meet friends (cf. St. John 15:15).